The Italian Billionaire’s Nubian Queen

She was twisting him up in knots, this woman, and he didn’t know what to do about it. She was doing things to him that he hadn’t known anybody could do to him.

When it was time to break for lunch, Matteo slipped away as soon as he could, and anticipation mounted as he walked to their rendezvous point. The picnic basket was, of course, waiting for him.

Alyssa, however, was not.

Frowning, he sat on the bench and waited. And he waited some more, until he got annoyed, and then some more annoyed.

Where was she?

***

Alyssa had a job to do. She had to extricate herself from her friends and her sister. Apparently, she’d made a lot of new friends, too, so there were a lot of excuses to make.

She got as far as Naomi before she was stopped again.

“What do you mean, you have to go? Are you all right? Do you need a doctor?”

“Of course not! Why would I need a doctor?”

“Well, the wine and food are here and you’re headed the other way.”

That, she had to concede, was actually a pretty fair point.

“I forgot something, that’s all.”

“Well, then I’ll keep you company.”

“Isn’t that Howie calling you?”

“Where? Oh!”

Alyssa made her escape, and she was on the path when she felt the air change. She wasn’t alone anymore, and she wanted to be.

“Gabriel.”

“I do like how you say my name, Alyssa.”

“I… Okay. I’m sorry, but I’ve got to meet somebody. Would you excuse me?”

“Meet me, instead.”

“What?”

“Don’t meet anybody else. Leave them waiting. Leave him waiting. Come with me instead.”

He grinned at her, a lazy, beautiful grin that must usually be irresistible.

“It’s a tempting offer but I can’t do that.”

“Why not? You hold the whole world in the palm of your hand, Alyssa. You can do whatever you want.”

Alyssa chuckled, startled.

“I wish I did. But I very obviously don’t. Now, are you headed this way?” asked Alyssa, indicating a direction when they got to a fork in the path.

“I am.”

“Then here we must part because I’m heading this way,” she told him, feeling very clever, indicating the other direction, and before he could stop her, she darted away. She was glad she’d worn comfortable shoes, at least. The ballet flats were not exactly high fashion, but they were comfortable and she didn’t resent the long way she’d have to take now to get to Matteo.

“Sh*t!”

She was twenty minutes late. Had Gabriel really kept her that long? There was just something a little unsavory about him, decided Alyssa as she walked faster, hoping that Matteo hadn’t gotten tired of waiting for her. Gabriel made her feel as if he was a man who was used to getting his way, no matter what. She didn’t think that simple things like rules and ethical considerations would stop him when he really wanted somebody.

She walked as fast as she could, but she was still twenty-five minutes late by the time she got to the bench where they’d said they would meet. She slowed down when she caught a glimpse of him, sitting on the bench, with a picnic basket by his side. He was sitting back, and he looked relaxed. He looked like he’d been plucked from time.

He’d taken his jacket off. It was folded on the bench beside him. The white shirt was still crisp and perfect, but he’d unbuttoned the cuffs and folded up the sleeves a bit. He looked far more approachable in that moment than he had in all the time she’d known him. Which was, to be fair, a total of about one day. A little less than that.

He sure had taken over a lot of her life in just that one day.

Alyssa hesitated, suddenly wondering if she was making a mistake. This man was more than she could expect to handle. She wasn’t sophisticated and worldly in matters of the heart. She wasn’t used to having many relationships, or handling it well when they ended. She’d really only had two serious relationships in her life and she’d been a little broken when each had ended.

Something told her that if she fell for this man, she would find more pain than she’d ever found before. He was far more than she had ever encountered before.

She should leave. She should just leave and make her excuses later. But she wanted to get to know him. Even if it was only for a couple of days—and it would of course only be for a couple of days—she wanted to get to know him. She wanted to find out what made him smile, what made him relax, and what made him tick. She wanted to know him.

Maybe it was that stupid dream influencing her. It had meant nothing. She didn’t believe in things like the meanings of dreams. It had just been a long day.

She told herself that she should walk away. Maybe she would have walked away. But right at that moment, he opened his eyes, and he looked right into hers. And she knew that there would be no walking away, not anymore.

“Sorry. I got held up.”

He smiled, and her heart beat faster.

“I assumed you had. Come, sit.”

“Ordering me around again,” she said with a smile as she walked over to him and sat down on the bench beside him, making sure that the picnic basket was between them.

“Do all requests have to have a please? It was a request. Maybe it’s because I’m not so familiar with your language?”

Alyssa chuckled. Suddenly, he’d laid on the accent. But even as she laughed, a little thrill ran down her spine, curled in her belly with a long, deep tug. Yes, there was something about him that drew her to him.

Dangerous. This was dangerous. She was playing games she’d never been any good at.

“You are plenty familiar with the language and you know you are. Don’t play games with me.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Wouldn’t you?”

“Of course not. I don’t play games, Alyssa. This is just a meal together. You can leave any time you want to. It’s not like you swore a blood oath to be here until the end.”